Education?!? My goodness, that man has to get his priorities in order.

Potter is a crunchy granola kind of guy, so it's no surprise that he is snubbing corporate interests. Now, if they were pitching a plan for bike paths, he'd probably be all ears.

Ahh...Potter has his critics, but he's not a "cruchy granola kind of guy." I love baseball and hail from Portland and will couple Potter's, well, rather, direct sentiments. Portlanders have Seattle and SF if they need games and 1) won't spend public funds to build a stadium and 2) probably won't be too into baseball after the novelty wears off. (Interesting, though, that an Indian tribe offered to build a stadium for a nearby casino a few years ago..the state said NO, which is kinda funny in light of the fact that Oregon has gambling all over the place.) The Marlins should fix things in S. Florida before considering Oregon.

Not baseball related, but every government entity is going to be facing a crisis in "education".

The benefits promised are unfunded and, with the baby boomers retiring, the tax coffers are going to be stressed everywhere.

Can't we just sink that swamp of a state into the ocean and return the marlins to their natural habitat?

lets do this: San Juan, Puerto Rico.

They already have a stadium that has hosted regular season mlb games and a HUGE baseball following.

Yeah, I'm not surprised about Portland. The sentiment just isn't there. They may like baseball, but if they really want to see a game, Seattle's nto that far away.

No doubt the Portland mayor understands the Marlins are just trying to use him to get some action out of the folks back in south Florida. I don't believe for a minute the Marlins are remotely interested in moving. Hooray for Potter for not playing along.

Sorry to be the bearer of more "anti-Marlins" news, but Puerto Rico is NOT (!!!!!!) the answer. I live here and a major league team here would be an economic disaster...PERIOD.

Not only is the island population poor by U.S. standards, but the island is riddled with very serious social and economic issues and has its ongoing status issue and its significantly out-of-the-way of other MLB cities. What's more, San Juan's Hiram Bithorn stadium is small and old, in poor condition, and very poorly situated.

What's more, and this may surprise the readers here, Puerto Ricans like baseball, but they aren't huge fans (i.e. going to games). (Example: the Expos were popular for a couple of weeks, but soon crowds were no larger than a few thousand.) I'd argue that basketball and volleyball are more popular spectator sports than baseball. Certainly Puerto Rico has a rich history of developing players for MLB, but baseball in 2005 isn't as popular as conventional wisdom may indicate.

Random thoughts:
Most all of Portland is crunchy - granola, they would rather see more bike paths than a new stadium.

ISTM that throughout my whole 40 years of life that education has been in a crisis and needs more money.

I'd prefer to see the Marlins in Havana, but only after there have been free and fair elections.